Competition
FIRST Robotics Competition
FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology)
Recognition
FIRST Impact Award (the program's most prestigious award, recognizing the team that best embodies the FIRST mission) plus numerous other awards such as the Autonomous Award, Creativity Award, Excellence in Engineering Award, Engineering Inspiration Award, Rookie All-Star Award, Woodie Flowers Finalist Award, and Winner/Finalist Alliance designations
Deadline
Nov 17, 2026
FIRST Robotics Competition is an international STEM program in which teams of high school students (grades 9-12, ages 14-18) design, build, and program industrial-sized robots to play a new game released each January, competing as alliances at Regional and District events before advancing toward the FIRST Championship.
Eligibility
- Grade levels
- High school
- Citizenship
- Any
- Fields of study
- Engineering, Technology, Computer science, Science
Application requirements
- Create or log into a FIRST account on the FIRST Dashboard: The first step to starting or joining a FIRST Robotics Competition team is creating a FIRST account (or logging in with an existing one).
- From 'My Teams,' select 'Create a New Team' and choose FIRST Robotics Competition: Teams are created through the FIRST Dashboard's My Teams screen.
- Recruit two adult Lead Coaches to guide the team: Every team is required to have two adult lead coaches; additional mentors are optional.
- Go to the FIRST Storefront to pay the season registration fee and add materials: Registration is completed by clicking 'Go to FIRST Storefront' to add items (season registration, Kickoff Kit, etc.) and checking out; 2026-2027 season registration fee is $6,500.
- Select a Kickoff location or kit-shipping option during the Kickoff selection window: Kickoff selection is open September 24, 2026 (Noon ET) through November 17, 2026 (Noon ET); teams choose a local Kickoff event or MySite kit shipping.
Verified Jul 8, 2026 · View official source